Hearty amber with no hint of raspberry red. At least I didn't think so. We were so far into the resturant's interior that it was difficult to find a pure source of sunlight. As I held the glass up to see the color and clarity, and cupped my hand over the top to give it a few whiffs, my embarrassed wife asked if I couldn't "do that in the bathroom or let me go if you want to do it at the table". They just don't understand. The small, bone white lid was transient and left a moderate amount of thin, shredded lace.

The nose, although a little weak, was well-balanced between pale wheat ('soft white wheat') and fresh raspberries ('natural raspberry essence'). Court Avenue thinks of CRW as a hefe weizen due to the yeast strain. Because of the absence of banana and clove, it didn't smell like one, nor did it taste like one. However, I'll follow convention and accede to the brewer's wishes.

Pretty much the same deal on the palate. The flavor profile consisted of an appealing interplay between lightly toasted wheat (and a fair amount of barley malt, I'm guessing) and raspberry flavor. The fruitiness was just right. It was more than a hint and less than a smack in the chops.

The one and only thing that kept the beer from earning the next highest flavor score was that something was slightly off-kilter in terms of sweet-tart-bitter. Mildly sweet was fine. I was even okay with not quite tangy enough. The problem was that (yes, in my opinion), the beer was too bitter for the style. I would have liked the Zeus and Mt. Hood hops to have been scaled back a tad.

The mouthfeel held the line in terms of quality. Not bad considering the fact that it wasn't soft or creamy in the least. The second half of my pint couldn't begin to stand up to my Ragin' Cajun pizza, but then that isn't the beer's fault, it's mine for pairing them.

Capital Raspberry Wheat is close to good beer. With less of an emphasis on hops (hop bitterness to be exact), it would probably be the wonderful, easy drinking, lightly fruity ale the brewpub is shooting for. I'm still glad that it's part of their lineup.